This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for fabricating an electronic module.
A typical integrated circuit (IC) or semiconductor die includes external connection points termed “bond pads” that are in electrical communication with integrated circuits formed in or on the active surface of the die. The bond pads are used to provide electrical connection between the integrated circuits and external devices, such as lead frames or printed circuit boards. The bond pads also provide sites for electrical testing of the die, typically by contact with probes, which send and receive signals to and from the die to evaluate the functionality of the die.
In a conventional die/lead frame assembly, the semiconductor die is attached to a die paddle of a lead frame using an adhesive or tape. The bond pads formed on the face of the die are typically electrically and mechanically attached to lead fingers terminating adjacent the periphery of the die using thin bonding wires of gold, aluminum or other metals or alloys. Other types of lead frames, such as so-called “leads over chip” (LOC) or “leads under chip” (LUC), dispense with the die paddle and support the die from portions of the lead fingers themselves.
Wire bonding is typically a process through which some or all of the bond pads formed on the face of the die are connected to the lead fingers or buses of a lead frame by thin bonding wires. The bonding wires comprise the electrical bridge between the bond pads and the leads of the packaged integrated circuit. A wire bonding apparatus bonds the bonding wires to the bond pads and to the lead fingers, typically using heat and pressure, as well as ultrasonic vibration in some instances. Following wire bonding, the lead frame and die are typically encapsulated in a plastic (particle-filled polymer) or packaged in a preformed ceramic or metal package. After encapsulation, the lead fingers are then trimmed and usually bent to form external leads of a completed semiconductor package in what is termed a “trim and form” operation.
Another wire bonding application may include chip-on-board (COB), where the back-side surface of a bare IC die is directly mounted on the surface of a substantially rigid printed circuit board (PCB) or other carrier substrate, and bond pads on the front-side or active surface of the bare die are then wire bonded to wire bondable trace pads or terminals on the surface of the PCB to interconnect circuitry in the die with external circuitry through conductive traces on the PCB. Likewise, wire bondable traces may be formed from a metal film carried on a flexible polyimide or other dielectric film or sheet similar to those employed in so-called TAB (tape automated bonding) lead frame structures. A die may be back-mounted on the flex circuit and the traces wire bonded to bond pads on the surface of the die.
A typical die bond pad is formed as a rectangle or square framed or bounded by a passivation layer on the face of the die. Bond pads are typically formed from a conductive metal such as aluminum and electrically connected to an underlying integrated circuit formed in or on the die. A passivation layer formed of a dielectric material (silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, polyimide, BPSG, etc.) or as a sandwich of different materials (e.g., silicon dioxide/silicon) covers the oxide layer, and the bond pad is embedded in the passivation layer. Such bond pads may be located generally along the peripheral edges of the die, inset from the edges a desired distance, or in one or more center rows. These bond pads are then typically wire bonded to a lead frame, thermocompression bonded to an overlying TAB tape or flip-chip bonded (with appropriate prior “bumping” of the bond pads) to a printed circuit board.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,630,372 discloses a semiconductor device, such as an integrated circuit die, that includes a plurality of bond pads on an active surface thereof electrically connected to internal circuitry of the semiconductor device, and a plurality of jumper pads on the active surface, which are electrically isolated from internal circuitry of the die. The jumper pads effectively provide connection for wire bonds to be made across the active surface between bond pads. The jumper pads may be formed directly on the semiconductor device or on a non-conductive support structure that is attached to the semiconductor device. The '372 patent notes that it is often desirable to interconnect various bond pads on a single semiconductor die in order to alter the input and/or output functionality of the die, such as when it is necessary to “wire around” defective portions of a die which is only partially functional. For example, a 16 megabit DRAM memory die may only demonstrate 11 megabits of functional memory under electrical testing and burn-in. Alternatively, it may be desirable for a die having a given input/output (bond pad) configuration to “look” to a particular lead frame or carrier substrate as if it were configured differently so that the die could be used with a lead frame for which it was not originally intended.
The device of the '372 patent shows embodiments of radio frequency (RF) circuits used in wireless communications. The RF circuit typically consists of transistors, diodes, and a large network of passive components such as inductors (L), capacitors (C) and resistors (R). Due to the physics of inductor and capacitor, these networks of passive components often takes up large die area. To reduce the die cost, RF module are commonly made of IC and discrete passive elements which are SMD mounted on a multi-layer printed circuit board (PCB) substrate or embedded in a ceramic structure such as low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) substrate. However, modules made with discrete components are generally bulky limiting the ability to reduce module size. Further, imprecise control of substrate material property, dimension, or circuit layout often results in low RF performance.